


Never Die

by MrProphet



Category: The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 04:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10689405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet





	Never Die

I tried to explain that this was my final visit, but she – I use the pronoun advisedly, but it was her preference – seemed to know already.

  
“It was inevitable,” she told me. “You walk among infection, every day. You have no filters, no protection; you never clean and replace your blood.”

“You know why not,” I reminded her.

“Yes,” she agreed, “although I do not understand your reasons, you have made them clear enough over the years of our acquaintance. It is a pity, however, that consideration for lesser animals should stand in the way of the continued survival of one such as you.”

“Other humans are not lesser animals,” I told her.

“So you say, but your intellect so far outstrips that of these others” – she waved a tentacle at her guards – “that they should be proud to die for you.”

I was grateful, as I often was, that the guards could not understand us. To them, the Martian language was nothing but a string of guttural croaks, gurgles, clicks and whines. They watched us in bemusement every time I came to the prison, staring through the glass dome of the sterile chamber, as I sat in my sealed suit and Hishhk’ squatted opposite in her mobility chair, her leathery bulk heaving with the exertion of simply breathing in our gravity.

“One of my students will take over from me,” I told her. “She is quite proficient in your language and…”

“Dr Brett,” she interrupted; the guards looked up at the sound of the unmistakably human syllables. “There is no need for anyone to visit me anymore; I have revealed all of my secrets.”

“That’s not true,” I insisted. “Each time I come here you have new stories; there is so much left for us to learn about Mars; about your history and your ancient culture. About the other races who share that distant globe with you…”

“But you were not sent to listen to stories; only to learn what I could teach you of our science.”

“That… may have been the intention of my government, but for myself…”

“Which is why no-one will follow you,” she insisted. “On some days I feel a yearning to see the pale sun rise over the hills and gleam upon the red weed. I think that I would feel the same about you.”

“I’m touched, Hshhk’,” I told her. “I wish I could continue my visits…”

“But you are dying, Dr Brett. I know. I have observed the progression of the disease with some concern. I have…” Hshhk’ snaked a tentacle across the table to touch my gloved hand and she switched to English. Her words were distorted by the shape of her beaked mouth, but perhaps she could not find the words she needed in Martian. “You are my friend, Dr Brett. I would have… missed you.”

“Would have?” I asked in puzzlement.

With lethal swiftness, Hshhk’ seized hold of my hood and tore it off. I started back, but she held me in place. Beyond the glass, the guards were readying their weapons. “Stop!” I called. “Don’t shoot! Hshhk’…!”

“There will be no more visitors,” she told me, and I had always known it to be true. “I am no longer interested in merely  _being_.” She slumped back in the chair, exhausted by her efforts. Her skin was already darkening and her eyes filming over. “I have been pleased…” Her breath rattled in her throat. “To be… your… friend.” The great bulk of her body shivered once and then grew still, slain by the germs in my breath and on my skin.

I pulled off my glove, reached out and, for the first time, touched her skin with my bare hand. It looked like leather, but in death at least it felt more like old, dry parchment.

“Goodbye, my friend,” I whispered. “Goodbye.”


End file.
